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It was a dream come true moment for both youngsters as they made their Test debuts in Australia.
Nitish Reddy (L), Harshit Rana (R) receive their debut caps in Perth
India fielded two debutants in the playing XI as they took on Australia in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Perth. Harshit Rana stepped into the line-up as the third pacer while Nitish Reddy was included as the fast-bowling all-rounder.
It was a dream come true moment for both youngsters as they made their Test debuts in Australia. Former India captain Virat Kohli presented the debut cap to Rana while Reddy received his from veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Earlier, India captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and elected to bat in Perth. In a surprise, veterans Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were dropped and Washington Sundar was preferred as the spin option.
Regular skipper and opener Rohit Sharma is not playing after the birth of his second child with the experienced KL Rahul taking his spot. Shubman Gill was also ruled out after injuring his thumb, allowing Devdutt Padikkal to slot in at number three. Dhruv Jurel got the nod ahead of middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan.
“Looks like a good wicket. We played a Test here in 2018 so we know what to expect. The wicket gets quicker after the first session. Very confident of the preparations we’ve had,” he said.
On the other hand, Nathan McSweeney makes his debut for Australia, opening alongside Usman Khawaja following the retirement of David Warner. Mitchell Marsh assumes the allrounder role with Cameron Green out of the series injured.
The visitors have won their last two Border-Gavaskar trophy series in Australia, most recently 2-1 in 2020-21, but begin this campaign after a demoralising 3-0 home defeat to New Zealand.
Playing XIs:
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah (capt), Mohammed Siraj.
Australia: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
- Location :
Perth, Australia